This small "incredible" plant is making a comeback on Martha's Vineyard. Here's why it matters

Eelgrass may be a small plant, but it plays a huge role in the ecosystem of a Martha's Vineyard pond.

Recently, the team at the Great Pond Foundation discovered the re-emergence of eelgrass in Edgartown Great Pond.

"I was on the boat when Owen, my co-worker, pulled up the anchor and he was like, 'Gosh guys, there's eelgrass here,'" said Kendall Randolph of the Great Pond Foundation. "Which is the first time he had seen eelgrass in, I think, two or three years at that point."

It came as a shock to the team. Since 2019, the water clarity in the pond had been on the decline. In 2022, the eelgrass vanished completely.

"It was just a massive explosion of nitrogen and a huge die-off of seagrass," explained Emily Reddington, the Executive Director of the Great Pond Foundation.

This pond has been in this position before.

"In about 1989, this whole community of Martha's Vineyard thought about 'How do we protect this pond?'" says Reddington. "The community worked to reduce nitrogen coming into the pond and protect this really essential ecosystem, which is important culturally, historically, economically, and for some people, spiritually."

Reddington's team is focused on giving the eelgrass a fighting chance.

As development has grown on the island, so has the amount of nitrogen entering the pond. Fertilizer, septic systems and animal waste all feed into the water. That clouds the pond, fuels harmful algae and makes it hard for eelgrass to survive.

WBZ-TV was able to see the progress of the eelgrass firsthand. The hope is that the entire pond has eelgrass within the next five to ten years. 

"We would love to be able to see meadows across the entirety of the pond," Rudolph said.   

EPA marine biologist Phil Colarusso has studied eelgrass for decades.

"People really don't appreciate all the ecological functions it does for not only the environment, but for humans," said Colarusso. "As a plant, it generates oxygen that we all breathe. It's a really incredible, important nursery habitat for many fish and invertebrates."

Colarusso explained that eelgrass does more than support marine life.

"It prevents shoreline erosion, it dampens wave energy of the large meadows that exist along our coast, and it sequesters carbon. It's one of the most efficient types of habitats that sequester carbon and thus mitigate climate change," he said. 

But even the most resilient ecosystems need a little help.

Reddington said, "With a little bit of support, Mother Nature really wants to go back to biodiversity."

Over the past year, there have been several good 'cuts' of the pond. When an excavator cuts through the barrier beach, allowing ocean water in.

"You want to exchange that salty, clean, low-nitrogen water with pond water," Reddington adds. "If that pond stays tidal long enough, you recharge the pond with that clean, wonderful water that's then going to catalyze the growth of the sea grass."

The hope now is that this comeback is only the beginning.